A Stroll Through Montefalco

Umbria is known for producing olive oil, wine, and grains

Umbria is a part of Italy that is completely landlocked. What it lacks in coastline it makes up for in rolling hills, fields of grains, bright poppies in springtime, olive groves, vineyards, and its many hill towns. 

Some of the hill towns, such as Spello, Assisi, and Perugia, are well known and attract many visitors.  Others are smaller and quieter, with fewer tourists. Those small towns, Panicale, Rasiglia, and Bevagna for example, are especially delightful.  

On a recent trip to Umbria, after a morning of farmhouse cooking and a visit to a winery, we (a group from Let’s Cook in Umbria) made a quick detour to the village of Montefalco, not far from Bevagna. Montefalco is small (less than 6,000 residents), quiet, and uncrowded. It is a slice of everyday Italy.

Montefalco is on the list of the Borghi Più Belli d’Italia (Italy’s most beautiful villages).  A walled hill town, it still has its Medieval gates and streetscape. 

Old stone buildings, pretty windows, and flowers are part of Montefalco’s charm

It also has a most enviable location – perched high above the surrounding valley with panoramic views of the Umbrian countryside and, most importantly, of the Sagrantino vineyards.   Montefalco Sagrantino DOC, a bold, dry red wine, is the areas claim to fame and a must-try when in this area.

We began our walk through Montefalco at the Belvedere Viewpoint near Porta della Rocca, one of the Medieval gates into the town. It has spectacular views over the valley below, making it clear why Montefalco is known as the Balcony of Umbria.

The Piazza del Comune is the heart of the village and where the town hall is located.  It is also where many cafes can be found and where the market and various festivals take place. Just before the piazza is the Church & Museum of San Francesco. I’ll have to explore that on a future visit!

Heading downhill towards Porta di Sant’Agostino, one of Montefalco’s Medieval gates.

From the piazza, a wander down “main street” reveals a street lined with shops, galleries, a small hotel, and restaurants.  Lots of opportunities to buy a bottle of Sagrantino or other local products. Keep walking and find Porta di Sant’Agostino, another of the town’s Medieval gates.

Small lanes branch out from the central street, many of them filled with stone houses, flower filled windows, arched alleyways, and pretty doors. As a bonus, they often end with stunning views over the valleys below.

Our detour to Montefalco gave us only enough time for a brief introduction to the town.  I will need a return trip and more time to better explore all that the village has to offer. One thing is clear to me, the more time I spend in Umbria, the more I fall in love with this unique part of Italy.

Now that is my kind of Farmacia!

The Infiorata of Spello

In Italian, the word fiore means flowers. An infiorata is a festival in which flowers are used to create stunning, but temporary, works of art.  A wonderful tradition in Italy is to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Domini, which falls about 60 days after Easter, with an infiorata.  Many towns participate in this tradition, some are small local celebrations, while others are large events which draw thousands of visitors.  The celebrations are not just about art or flowers – they are at heart religious celebrations in which the fleeting designs are offerings – and they guide people up the village streets to the church.

 On any normal day, the town of Spello is filled with flowers.  They spill from window boxes, fill pots in little alleys, and line the steps of buildings, creating one of Umbria’s most charming villages. But on the Sunday of the annual Infiorata, Spello takes flower displays to exponentially greater levels.  It is one of the most famous Infiorate in Italy, and something I have long wanted to experience.  This year I finally got my chance when a visit to the event was included as part of a 4-day cooking class in Umbria (more about that in upcoming posts).

A detail from one of my favorite quadri

 The city of Spello closes to traffic on Saturday evening when tarp coverings are placed over the streets.  Teams work under the lighted tarps throughout the night, using only natural plant materials (petals, stems, leaves, herbs) to create detailed designs.  The materials can be fresh or naturally dried but no artificial colors or materials can be used. The labor is intensive, placing petals by hand, making a design come to life, keeping the petals moist, and staying up all night to do it!

One of the most elaborate of the tappeti at this year’s Infiorata

There are two main types of works –  quadri, which are large scale “paintings” and tappeti, long “carpets” of designs which are often geometric shapes.  Templates with the designs are worked on over time and then taped to the ground and used to create the displays.

It is hard to describe the scale of the Infiorata.  The designs wind up hill from the entrance to Spello near Porta Consolare, fill the Piazza della Republica, and continue up through the city up to its highest point.  The route is about a mile long in total.  Along the way are spectacular works of art, many reflecting religious themes (this is after all a celebration of a Catholic feast day), others have broader messages, and some are just pretty reflections of nature.  The event is also a competition, with winners in several categories announced at the end of the celebration.

My favorite work featured these delightful animals

It is best to arrive early (or even stay in town the night before) as the tarps start to come down by 8:00 am, the crowds are waiting, and arriving later can mean a long wait to get in.  The climb can be strenuous if you happen to have a really hot day, so earlier is better.  Luckily our weather was perfect and not hot at all, and the way the displays wound gradually up hill made the walk easy.  One confession though, I did most of the route but skipped the steepest part at the end. It can be a challenge to get photos of the larger works as everyone is trying to get close enough and to find the right just the right angle. There are some scaffolds that can be climbed to get shots from above, and I bet the photos from drone that was flying overhead were amazing. Most of my photos have lots of feet in them! The best photos zoom in on details - are here are some of the most intriguing ones.

The procession moves through the flower art on the way to the church (photo from the Commune of Spello)

Come too late and you’ll miss the fun all together. The works provide a path for a procession led by the Bishop, who walks right over the beautiful creations.  The procession begins around 11 am.  By the end of the day, it will all be swept away.  But this is not sad – it is as it is meant to be.

And now begins the planning for next year’s Infiorata.  Easter comes early next year, on March 28th.  The Infiorata will be Sunday May 30, 2027.   Now’s the time to think about coming!

Rothko in Florence

As if the beauty, pageantry, history, art, and architecture that is Florence every single day were not enough, the city also frequently hosts special art exhibits. There are many exhibit venues in Florence; one of the best is the Palazzo Strozzi.  Built around 1500, the palazzo is a stunning example of Renaissance architecture.  The building is a wonder, especially its central courtyard with its columns and arches, open to the windows and loggia of the upper floors.  After centuries of ownership by the Strozzi family, today the palazzo is the property of the city of Florence.  The courtyard often hosts small art installations, with the major exhibits displayed on the floor above, the piano nobile.

This month, and through August 23, the Strozzi is host to a presentation of works by Mark Rothko, one of modern art’s most well known painters.   The exhibit, curated by Christopher Rothko and Elena Geuna, spans Rothko’s career and includes works gathered from both private collections and museums from around the globe.

Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz in what is now Latvia, emigrated as a child, arriving in the US with his family in 1913.  His art career began in New York in the 1920s and over the course of his lifetime was shaped by many influences – surrealism, impressionism, war, religion, Greek mythology, spirituality, Italian classical art (especially that of Fra Angelico and Michelangelo), and his own, sometimes turbulent, life. 

 I was not familiar with Rothko’s early works which include portraits, city scenes, watercolors, and drawings.  I was drawn to them in a different way than to his later works. Above: Untitled (Woman in Subway, 1938; Untitled (Cityscape) 1936, and Room in Karnak, 1946)

I have a friend who, when visiting a gallery or museum, often asks “If you could take home one piece, which one would it be?”. For me, it would be the one below, an untitled watercolor, ink, and graphite piece from 1945.

This piece seems to dance across the paper; it is the one I would take home and be enchanted by every day.

As with many artists, Rothko’s style evolved over time. His later works are quite different from his early pieces.  The one constant seems to be his use of color as a form of expression.

It is his abstract art, known as Multiforms, which began in the late 1940’s, that was a later step in his evolution and which produced the works for which he is best known.  These are large pieces which feature dramatic blocks of color. Gone are the people, buildings, or indeed any figures at all. Below from left to right are works from 1951 (#12), 1953 (untitled), and another from 1953 (#2). Interestingly, Rothko did not name his paintings, leaving each person viewing the work to have his own reaction, without the influence of a name.

In the 1950’s and 60’s Rothko worked on several commissions, including a series of murals for a chapel in Texas (named the Rothko Chapel after the artist’s death). He also painted the Seagram Murals, a series originally intended for a restaurant in New York’s Seagram building.   Realizing that a restaurant was not the appropriate setting for his work, he instead donated several of the pieces to London’s Tate museum.  Sadly, they arrived on the same day that Rothko took his own life. None are included in the Strozzi exhibit as they are a permanent exhibit in the Tate Museum and only displayed as a group. Some sketches for them can be seen in the Laurentian Library as part of the exhibit in Florence. There are also some additional small works in Museum of San Marco, a link to Rothko’s appreciation of Fra Angelico.

Below are pieces from 1955, 1958, 1964, about the same time as the Seagram works.

The chronological presentation of Rothko’s paintings at the Strozzi allow the observer to follow Rothko’s evolution as an artist, being drawn in to what seems to be an increasingly dark mood as his colors change from bright yellows, vibrant greens and blues, to more somber dark reds and browns and finally to gray and black.  The two below are from 1969.

Rothko a Firenze is a well curated exhibit, with detailed information in both Italian and English, and a must see for those with an interest in modern art.  The gift shop has posters and cards with many of the paintings as well as books about the artist.

Castello di Duino

If I were to buy a castle in Italy, the Castello di Duino would do very nicely.  Unfortunately, the current owner, Prince Carlo Alessandro della Torre e Tasso, Duke of Castel Duino, seems unlikely to sell it to me, especially at a price I could afford.  Yet, after visiting, it is easy to daydream about living in this castle with its beautiful interior and views of the coastline over the Gulf of Trieste. 

Breakfast on one terrace and wine on another, a stroll near the lower garden with the pretty pool, gazing over to the ruins of the 11th century Castello Vecchio - yes, it would be easy to spend my days here. 

 The castle was built in the 14th century and acquired in the 19th by Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis and his wife Princess Marie, one branch of a German noble family.  After moving to the Italian castle, they changed their name to a more Italian form, becoming the della Torre e Tasso family.  They were great patrons of the arts and hosted both musical and literary guests, including Liszt, Strauss, Twain, and Rilke.

The castle has remained in their family, passed down from generation to generation. Today it is open as a museum, presented very much like the home it once was. 

It is possible to climb to the top of this tower to take in the view

If the exterior of the castle looks familiar to you - it might be because it was used in filming Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The approach to the castle is along a path lined with statues and with views down to both the garden area and out to the sea.

Inside the castle grounds, a courtyard leads to an imposing tower. A climb will reward you with 360 degree views.

The castle’s interior is elegant, detailed, and beautifully furnished. 

There is a wood paneled library and several drawing rooms one of which has a piano that Liszt once played.

The dining room, with a table set as if guests were expected any minute, was especially lovely. It was so easy to imagine the fascinating guests that once gathered here. I can just imagine the sound of their conversations and clinking wine glasses; perhaps stepping out onto the balcony for a smoke, the views, and a whispered conversation.

Another fascinating detail was the elegant spiral staircase which connects several floors. Designed by Palladio, with pretty bannisters and gorgeous light fixtures, it is functional art.

The visit to Duino, arranged by the Piccola Università language school in Trieste, was a highlight of my visit to this region. Oh to time travel and visit in past centuries.

The ruins of the 11th century castle

Città Vecchia, Trieste

When I mentioned to friends that I was headed to Trieste, I inevitably got two reactions.   First was that it is a wonderful city with really good coffee.  Second was to watch out for La Bora, Trieste’s famously frigid wind which creates havoc as it roars down from the northeast.   During my stay I experienced both. 

The coffee was great, especially when sipped inside one of the city’s historic cafes.  Their elegant settings reminded me of Vienna, which is no surprise since Trieste was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire for centuries.  That influence can be seen throughout Trieste in the grand architecture, large squares, statues, cafes, and even in its culinary traditions.  Triest is a blend of Italy and those Habsburg roots which makes it a unique place to visit. (below, Caffè degli Specchi)

As for the Bora, it struck one day after a week of pleasant weather.  And when I say it struck, that is not an exaggeration.  The cold (with a wind chill down to about 30 degrees) and wind together just about knock you over.  I was very glad to have brought a winter sweater, heavy scarf, gloves, and a warm hat that covered my ears.  Fortunately, the Bora lasted only one day and then we were back to mild weather.

Piazza Venezia

But Trieste is much more than coffee and wind.  The Citta Vecchia runs along the part of Trieste that follows the coastline and is flat before the city heads uphill to Castello San Giusto.  Better still is its long stretch of pedestrian only streets that run from Piazza Venezia through the pretty garden of Piazza Hortis with the statue of Italo Svevo, and to the Piazza Unita d’ Italia which is Trieste’s grand public square (top photo).  Along the way are shops, bars, restaurants, pastry shops, and some interesting meandering side streets.

Locals call the 2 Moors who ring the bell atop the clock tower Michez and Jachez

The centerpiece of the Piazza Unita d’Italia is the 1870’s City Hall with its tall clock tower. Up at the top, two bronze Moors strike the bell to mark time. 

In front of the city hall is the Fontana dei Quatro Continenti (4 Continents Fountain).  Designed in the 1700’s when only 4 continents were known (Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas), each is represented by sculptures at the corners of the fountain.  On top is a winged female figure, facing the sea, who represents Trieste.   

Removed from the piazza in the 1930’s (our guide said that Mussolini ordered it removed because he didn’t like the non-Italian cultures depicted), it was restored and put back in place only about 25 years ago.  Today it is a fountain without water, in part because when the Bora blows the spray of water would turn the piazza into an icy hazard.

Fontana dei Quatro Continenti, the African corner

From Piazza Unita d’Italia the pedestrian path continues through Piazza della Borsa (site of the old Stock Exchange, below).

Then it is on to the Grand Canal and Piazza del Ponterosso (look for the famous statue of James Joyce).  This is the perfect place to end a walk through town with a spritz.

 Further inland from the Gulf, Trieste becomes hilly with a steep climb up to its high point and the Castello San Giusto.   More on that coming up in future posts along with some of Trieste’s Roman History.